Grapple to raise sunken ships or the like



April 1945- 1. D. RICHARD GRAPPLE TO RAISE SUNKEN SHIPS, OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 22/1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig .1

I: 5 g 5 5 5 5 if T H IWE INVENTOR. LANCE D. RICHARD A aril 17, 1945. L ARD 2,374,134

GRAPPLE TO RAISE SUNKEN SHIPS, OR THE LIKE x INVENTOR. LANCE D. RICHARD GRAPPLE TO RAISE SUNKEN SHIPS, OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 22. 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fl 20 8 a s 15 10 5 INVENTOR. 1;; 2119 LANC'EDRIC'HARD 14' BY flf 22 25 17 W April 17, 1945.

L. D. RICHARD Filed Sept. 22, 1943 LANCE D. B1

GRAPPLE TO RAISE SUNKEN SHIPS, OR THE LIKE '6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEN TOR.

CH ARD April 17,- 1945. L. D. RICHARD 2,374,134

GRAPPLE TO RAISE SUNKEN SHIPS, OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 22, 1943 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 IINVENTOR. LANcE D. RIGHARID BYfltamA April 17, 1945. L, D, RICHARD GRAPPLE TO RAISE SUNKEiI SHIPS, OR THE LIKE 6 Sheets-$heet 6 Filed Sept. '22, 1943 1 m E v/ INVENTOR. RICHARD Patented Apr. 17, 1945 g I h *t-he*electrioicurrent tothe"conslstencyfof a Weld These and-others objects'wfll hereinafter Joe more -fnlly described;feference being bad tothe accompanying drawings forming a .part f 'of this :like-partsmth'difiereht views.

Herring-to the'drawings:

afloat and a sunken ship to which the 'graliples Fig: 3 is afplan' vi-efiillustta'ting kline'oftravel "that," mawbewequirved'for"thefigrapplito" reach ""thhhll of aship. I

Wig-F 4:: is'an enlarged" fragmentary: side View "of an electrode projecting *throtlgkthe grapple plate-"that issectiona,1ly illustrated. I Figf-Sfis a similar 'vievwto"that""of .Fig'. 4lto i1- lustiate' *the ble'ctr'odef 'penetrati ngwhe armored *Jarrangem'ent for"'one"of the 'etctfodes "consist ng o: *its -plungmpspringand reieasab-l detents" to control the moment of plunge of the electrode.

Figifl isia planviewoff'ig.*10.

3 mgr-. 12 me'ruea-r sectional viewthrofxfithe naltelyfrom'row to row. v

15 'a noreszooncise'"desoriptiomof'thdraiwings,

it"- Willfib seen that a'i'ca si ng" iyprovided hav- 'ingnctaflgtllafhnd"hyramidalfpoi'tions A-"and ""B'Tespeetiielyj the rectangular'iportion A having installedthereinun "electrical distributor magn'ets 20:'ahd"pefietrating"electrodes; Iatendesribed.

pyramidal po'rtioxfB provides an air chamtends outward at. the apexof the pyramidatpol tTon;'andhaving'secured" on'theouterfena th'ere- I 5.761 aJproiallefi'4""thatis guarded" by 'f'framelC, Fig? I is ani11ustrative" view showing. a; ship,

said "sprtopelle ri'heing conveying; means for "the It will also. be .seen that thefothermagnets' H :ari'lik'wise carried 'in the solid rectangular 'portionJ'ithexoores" 12'; of "said .lmagnets" .cohtafoting k .thinneri side'jof plate. 8" tozretain 's'd'idzf'plate in 4 working'ielationitdthefmiohine.

, TIThere fare -pro'v'ided; two ;.rows or .pointed..' 1ec'- gtfo'odes" -I 3 uspao'ed apa'rt and being ,interm'e'diately nositionedisand adapted,to .eXtendTthrQngh'plate Each electrode is preferably pointed'to Denetrate barnacles Or other accumulation on the surface of the armored hull of the ship; furthermore, being pointed, will intensify the welding contact.

There is also provided a flux material D positioned in depressions along the pointed tip of each electrode to assist in the welding. The other endof the electrode has a fiat sided circular head F that slidably engages in a sleeve 15 with a smooth running fit and each sleeve bein positioned between the plates 8 and I longitudinally of the sleeves, and being separated therefrom by insulation l6 and l'I at their respective ends of the sleeves. The insulation at one end of each sleeve has a nipple G as a lining for its aperture passing through plate 8 and through which the electrode slidably engages watertight.

It will be seen that the sleeves are secured to plate ID by cap screws I8 passing'through ears H oppositely disposed on one end of the sleeves and threadedly engaging in said plate l0. Positioned on the head of the electrode is a disc-like electric transmitter IQ for current to the electrode through the medium of a conductor wire 20 connected to said transmitter and outwardly extending from its periphery and slidably through a slot J in the sleeve, the movement being actuated by a coil springZl when said sleeve is released by its detents oppositely disposed, consisting of cores 22 that are actuated by their respective solenoid body portions 23 that are secured to the sleeve by cap screw 24 engaging through their respective ears 25 and threadedly engaging into the sleeve. The said sleeve is apertured through which the cores will slidably engage so that the terminal ends thereof will engage with the inner side or the circular head as shown in Fig. 10, and when said cores are retracted outward by the windings of the solenoid the electrode is free to be forced to engagement with .a metallic body to which it i welded as above stated.

As to the arrangement of the electrodes, solenoids and magnets, it will be seen that the elec,

, trodes and solenoids are positioned between plates 8 and I0, while the windings of the magnets are secured between plate l0 and a bar 25,

said plate and bar 26 being rigidly secured to the rectangular portion of the casing. Upon completion of welding the electrodes to the armored plate of a ship, said magnets are de-energized for the removal of said plate l0 carrying its components except plate 8 and all of the electrodes that extend through plate 8 that function as one grapple among other like plates as raising means for the sunken ship through the medium of their bales 21 to which cables 28 are attached and to winding drums operatively carried by the ship or ships afloat thereabove (said winding drums not shown in the drawings) Upon completion of the welding as above stated, plate 8 is detached by disengagement of the magnets and by action of springs'2l and propeller 4, at which time themachine except plate 8 may be raised by its cable 28 for repeated engagement with other plates and their electrodes.

The electrical distributor above referred to is carried-by plate In and consists of the electrode sleeves heretofore referred to and their respective electric contact posts 30 seated in insulation blocks 3! that are secured to said plate It} in staggered relation by cap screws 32 whereby an electric current is conducted to the electrodes one at a time alternately from one row to the other as closed by brush elements 33, said brush elements being oppositely disposed and carried by'a traveling head 34 that is conveyed by a threaded shaft 35, one end of which is journalled in abearing 36 secured to the lower end wall of plate II), the other end being connected to an electric motor 31 that is secured to the other end wall of said plate l0. Each brush at its upper end is connected to its respective side of the head by insulation blocks 38 and extending upwardtherefrom a short distance to prolong its contact with posts 30 to insure penetration of the pointed electrode and welding thereof to the armored plates. A lower end of said brush elements slidably engages between the legs of electric tracks 39 that are secured to the plate I 0 and being separated therefrom by insulation strips 40, said tracks extending from one end to the other of said threaded shaft, whereby continuous closing of the electric circuit is maintained as the head is conveyed to energize the electrodes alternately along the rows thereof and one at a time.

As a means to avoid arcing at the brush contacts, there is provided a relay 42 for each positive electrode and being connected thereto by conductors 43, the movin portion of the relay being operated by conductors 44 connecting to the posts 30 and to a feed line 45 that branches from a junction box 46 secured to the upper wall of the casing. Positioned in the casing is a transformer 48 to increase the current for welding the electrodes to the armored plate of the sunken ship, the wires for the source of current extending upward through a waterproofed covering 49 and to the ship above where the source of current is produced and controlled.

To maintain a predetermined pressure in the casing and to avoid collapsing thereof in great depth of water, there is provided an air conductor 5G communicating into the hollow of the casing, said source for producingthe air not shown in the drawings but required to be placed on the surface ship, and should the casing become excessively charged with air, there is provided an exhaust valve 5| to move outward from the wall of the casing, making an opening for the air to escape.

A summary of the operation in consecutive order is as follows. The machine will be conveyed by the surface ship and by the propeller 4 on the machine, during which time a switch 52 on the surface ship will be closed to energize the magnets for retaining plate 8 to the machine and to firmly bind the machine to the hull of a sunken ship when in contact therewith. At the completion of this action, a switch 53 near switch 52 will be closed to energize the solenoids 23 releasing the electrodes for a contact with the armored plate of the sunken ship, which completes the circuit between electrodes 13 and I4 when the relay 43 is energized by action of brush 33 contacting post 30. When the welding has been completed for all of the electrodes, switch 52 is opened to deenergize the magnets, releasing plate 8 from the welding machine, and at which time a switch 54 for the propeller will be closed to assist the springs 2| in moving the machine from the plate 8 for its final operation. A

The machine will then bemoved upward for operations on similar plates, while the sunken ship will be raised by the plates 8 through the medium of its respective cables attached to the P ates 8.

In the wiring diagram it will be seen that the motors 2 and 31 are of, the reversible type, the

switch 54 being provided for propeller motor 2, while a switch 55 is provided for distributor motor 3.1. In the wiring diagram, all of the ground electrodes have been shown while only a portion of the positive electrodes, relays, and solenoids have been illustrated.

Such modifications may'be made as lie within the scope of the appended claims.

Having fully described this invention what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1., In a grapple to salvage sunken ships, the grapple being a machine comprising a casing having rectangular and pyramidal portions integrally joined, said rectangular portion comprising anmovable forwardly positioned plate and a rearwardly positioned plate, said plates being spaced apart in parallelism, there being an electric motor positioned in the pyramidal portion of the casing and a propeller driven by the motor, a traveling electric circuit closer positioned in the rectangular portion of the casing, and sleeves'of a suitable length and diameter longitudinally positioned within said rectangular portion and being carried by the last said plate, said traveling circuit closer being mounted on said last named plate and consisting of a threaded shaft and a head threadedly engaging on said threaded shaft,

and two rows of contact posts between which the threaded shaft is iournalled and being in parallelism with the said rows of posts, said head having sliding contact elements to engage the posts one at a time alternately from row to row as the head is conveyed therealong, a relay for each post, each post having an electrode and wiring means to connect the same, and a source oi electric power being connected to the sliding contact elements, and two sets of magnets carried by last said plate, one set of said megnets securing said plates together magnetically, the other set coacting with the propeller to direct the machine toward and in contact with a sunken ship to weld the grapple thereto.

2. In a grapple of the class described in combination, a machine comprising a pyramidal portion and a rectangular portion integrally joined, a removable plate for one side of the rectangular portion, and another plate in spaced relation rearward from first said plate in parallelism therewith, the pyramidal portion having a motor positioned therein as a power medium for a propeller positioned outward at the apex of the pyramidal portion, two series of relays positioned on the rear plate, the series spaced apart and electric contact posts for the series of relays, the I posts being positioned in staggered relation along their respective series of relays and aligned in parallelism therewith, a threaded shaft and means to journal the shaft in the rectangular portion and being between said aligned posts, a

head threadedly engaging on theshaft, the head being a circuit closer as it contacts the posts alternately, there being a row of electrodes for each se'ries'of relays to weld the electrodes one at a timein alternate relation to a metallic hull of a ship, and the removable plate being apertured and through which the electrodes will extend as actuated by a spring for each thereof and a means torelease the electrodes when energized by an electrical current.

Lance n. RICHARD. 

